Jim Brown/US PresswireNewark native Kenneth Faried is going to The Dance, after his Morehead State team won the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament March 7.

In the surreal moments after Morehead State earned its first bid to the NCAA Tournament in a quarter-century, center Kenneth Faried scanned the stands of Nashville's Sommet Center for his mother.

Waudda Faried had promised to make the trip from Newark for the finals of the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament -- despite still having stitches in her arm from recent surgery, a complication of the lupus she has lived with for more than 15 years.

"I told him, 'You're not going to have me come down here and not give 110 percent on the court,'" Waudda Faried recalled. "'You want this, you go get it.' And he did it."

Faried came up with 15 points and 10 rebounds -- his 23rd double-double of the season -- to help his team to a 67-65 victory over Austin Peay on March 7. That night, Faried saved his first celebratory hug for his mom.

But the performance wasn't anything out of the ordinary for Faried, who in two years has gone from being an under-recruited player at Newark's Technology High School to the nucleus of Morehead's revived basketball program. Three years after head coach Donnie Tyndall inherited a 4-23 basketball team, the little-known school in Kentucky will meet Alabama State Tuesday night in the Tournament's play-in game.

"Coach had a plan," Faried said by phone from Morehead's campus. "And he had a plan for me."

Only the best version of that plan, however, would have included Faried being named the league's Defensive Player of the Year and MVP of the conference tournament by his sophomore season. He has established himself as a mid-major star, but coming out of high school, concerns about his academic standing neutralized many programs' interest in his 6-8 frame and intense playing style.

Even local suitors such as Rutgers, Fairleigh Dickinson and Marist backed off. But Morehead kept calling, and Faried kept retaking the SAT until his score met the NCAA's standards. When it was time to pick a school, Faried reciprocated Morehead's commitment to him.

Tyndall admits he took a chance on Faried, but one that he had faith would be rewarded. So far, he has been right.

"He's obviously a cornerstone of our rebuilding project here," Tyndall said. "He's a guy who has a chance to be the MVP of our league each of the next two seasons."

Faried was a solid contributor his freshman year, with 10.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per game, but he didn't have the stamina or strength to stay on the floor more than 20 minutes. During the offseason, Faried changed that, adding 26 pounds of muscle and bumping up his bench press by 70 pounds.

This year, he has been able to play an extra 10 minutes per game, with averages of 13.9 points and 12.8 rebounds. His 23 double-doubles, in 34 games, rank among the most in the nation.

As one of the play-in teams, the Eagles face a tough road ahead: a win over Alabama State would put them up against the powerhouse across the state, top-seeded Louisville. When the teams met in November, the Cardinals won, 79-41.

But Morehead's basketball team has already done something remarkable: In the month of March, it has emerged from the shadow of the University of Kentucky, just an hour's drive from the Morehead campus. The Wildcats missed the tournament this year for the first time in 18 years.

"All you see here is UK, UK, UK. But, you go to Morehead," Faried said. "Now it's a great time to be a Morehead basketball player."

As the campus has finally come alive in blue and gold, instead of blue and white, and Morehead's success was celebrated all the way in Frankfort, where the team was recognized by the Kentucky legislature, Faried wasn't the only one glad he wound up at Morehead.

"That happens all the time in recruiting," Tyndall said. "But yes, I think there are probably a lot of people who wish he was on their team."